A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

THE resumption of raids on Berlin and London makes it relevant to consider what force the Luftwaffe could in case of need mobilise for attacks on this country. An article on this by the Air Cor- respondent of the Daily Telegraph in Tuesday's issue of that paper is of some importance. Its general conclusion, based on what is known of the strength of the German Air Force in different theatres, is that there exists a reserve of perhaps as much as a hundred squadrons unaccounted for, and that this is presumably being held ready for some sudden and heavy blow somewhere—for example, a new air-borne invasion of Russia, a sudden stroke at Egypt or an equally heavy assault on this country. All this seems possible, and it is well that we should recognise the possibilities. But it is not quite the only explanation. In the first place, does this reserve, in fact, exist. It may, but so far as is known the United Nations, in spite of an aircraft-output much larger than Germany's, possess no reserve on any such scale. It is true that they have great commit- ments that involve a dispersal of their air-forces. But so has Germany ; in fact, the opposing forces are mostly facing one another from inside and outside a vast perimeter, including the whole of Europe. Moreover, Germany is expecting an early and concentrated attack by the Allies at some point or points unknown on that peri- meter ; that itself is sufficient to account for a decision to keep a strong force of aircraft available to throw into any threatened sector at short notice. But even that decision seems questionable. It is hard to believe that in her present plight Germany can keep any substantial striking-force out of action.

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A letter in the current issue of the Journal of Education very aptly reinforces the criticisms made of institutions claiming to be universities on the basis of some transatlantic charter, and proposing to confer degrees on the basis of some standards of their own. The writer of the letter, who refers to himself as "a member of one of the ancient universities, and a beneficiary of some of the academic advantages of the other," signs his name as J. W. B. Worsley. Whether or not he is, in fact, the Rev. J. F. W. Boden- Worsley, M.A. (Cantab), D.C.L., D.Litt. (I.U.) (Hon. Univ. Fellow), who figures among the members of the Board of Studies of the lately defunct Intercollegiate University (British Division), I do not know—quite possibly not—but, at any rate, his name brings the latter gentleman to my mind. He, too, was a member of one of the ancient universities ; he secured a pass-degree, third-class (out of

three) at Cambridge in 1908. He, too, was a beneficiary of some of the academic advantages of the other ; he is, as stated, a D.C.L., D.Litt., and Hon. Fellow of the Intercollegiate University. The differences in valuation set by the two seminaries of sound learning on the attainments of this particular graduate is marked, and it is by no means an isolated case. Cambridge may, of course, have been wrong, and Intercollegiate University right ; or it may be a case of the late flowering of genius. But Cambridge did at least base itself on an examination. It would be interesting to know which valuation is the qualification for membership of the Board of Studies of the Intercollegiate University.

* * * * Mr. D. N. Pritt is a distinguished lawyer, and he should know, if anyone does, what is slander and what is not. As a pure layman,

I find it difficult to imagine anything more slanderous than statement which Mr. Pritt is reported in Monday's Times as havi made about Sir James Grigg : " I do not believe that he [i. Secretary for War] wants the U.S.S.R. to win this war." Sland• or not, it is precisely the kind of observation calculated to do maximum harm in Russia, where quite enough baseless suspici of this country's motives exists as it is. It is an outrageous th.s that relations between Allies should be publicly bedevilled in thi way.

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At a moment when different types of secondary education are ye much under discussion, some interest attaches to the Cambridg Review's list of awards of scholarships and exhibitions made b

Cambridge colleges in 1942, with the schools of the winners. 0 of 37 names, the five which head the list are: Manchester Grammar School 14 ••• 1,236 Eton ... 8 ...

1,027 Christ's Hospital 7 4 .• 833 Clifton ...

6 ... 2 ...

444 Rugby ...

5 ... 2 ...

52o

The figures in the different columns represent respectively scholar ships, exhibitions and the number of boys in the school. Manchest Grammar School's remarkable lead may be due in part to it numbers ; Clifton might claim that in proportion its record is eve better.

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A casual reference which I made last week to hair-shirts has brought me some interesting information on that rather unfamiliar subject. Hair-shirts are actually worn, as a penance or mortifica- tion of the flesh, and being worn, they have to be provided. The material, human hair, is usually imported, mainly from China, that trade-channel dating from days when pigtails were regularly worn and long hair, therefore, readily obtainable. Women's long hair, I suppose, is theoretically available in China still, but till peace comes it must stay there. (For some reason Chinese hair appears to be more suitable for the purpose than British.) The " shirts" are manufactured at at least one convent in this country, and a small profit is made out of them, a hair-shirt proper costing £2 to. or upwards ; but a smaller garment, more like a large scapular, could be obtained for about a third of that sum.

Mr. Bertrand Russell—strictly speaking, Earl Russell—has, I see, been deprived, for some reasons not clearly apparent, of a lecture- ship he has held for some years on an American foundation. Whatever the rights and wrongs of that may be, it is due to Bertrand Russell, who, while in this country, has frequently been one of this country's strongest critics, to emphasise the value of his recent public speeches and articles in the United States on a subject on which he might have been expected to be distinctly reserved—India. He thoroughly approved of the proposals Sir Stafford Cripps took to India, and thought they ought to have been accepted. At a time when reasonable British views on India are finding much too inadequate expression on the other side of the Atlantic, this particular contribution to the illumination of

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the American mind is peculiarly welcome. JAKus.